‘Iolani tuned up for the state tournament with a 30-3 victory over Aiea at Na Alii’s rain-soaked field Friday night.
The Raiders grabbed an early 13-0 lead that held until halftime. Aiea, which got a third-quarter field goal from Thomas Hulett, remained within striking distance at 16-3 until the Raiders ran away with it with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Kaua Nishigaya rushed for 109 yards on 18 carries for ‘Iolani (8-2, 7-1 ILH D-I), which will open the state D-I tourney on the weekend of Nov. 9-10.
Raiders quarterback Jonah Chong passed for those two fourth-quarter TDs, one to Nishigaya for 4 yards and the other to Rayden Kaneshiro for 5 yards. Earlier, Nishigaya scored first-quarter TDs on runs of 1 and 46 yards.
‘Iolani’s Mika Makekau kicked a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter for that 16-3 lead. It came on the heels of Aiea’s only points and had a hand in stopping the momentum Na Alii (2-6-1, 2-5 OIA D-I) had going.
“It’s a good test for our kids to play and finish the regular season off,” Raiders coach Wendell Look said. “Even though we’ve already qualified for the state tournament, for young kids to have that focus and be able to come out and execute and play, especially in these conditions, that says a lot about their character.”
Aiea coach Wendell Say wrapped up his 27th season. Na Alii won the turnover war, but could not cash in for points.
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GAME SUMMARY
‘Iolani 30, Aiea 3
At Aiea
>> ‘Iolani (8-2, 7-1) 13 0 3 14 — 30
>> Aiea (2-6-1, 2-5) 0 0 3 0 — 3
‘Iolani — Kaua Nishigaya 1 run (Mika Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Nishigaya 46 run (kick failed)
Aiea — FG Thomas Hulett 31
‘Iolani — FG Makekau 31
‘Iolani — Nishigaya 4 pass from Jonah Chong (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Rayden Kaneshiro 5 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
RUSHING — ‘Iolani: Nishigaya 18-109, Jake Lee 12-49 , Kaneshiro 3-31, Chong 4-0, Cole Ichikawa 1-(minus-7), Team 2-(minus-9). Aiea: Dante Bareng 10-31, Kainalu Caetano 5-23, Kayson Castillo 2-11, Jerrymya Duh 1-5, Jordan Cezar 1-0, Team 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — ‘Iolani: Chong 21-33-1-207. Aiea: Castillo 10-30-2-67, Bautista 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING — ‘Iolani: Carter Kamana 9-77, Jonah Miyazawa 5-35, Kaneshiro 4-83, Jake Yokogawa 2-8, Nishigaya 1-4. Aiea: Zach Kalahiki-Basque 3-30, Austin Mogote 3-23, Fabian Bautista 2-9, Caetano 1-3, Keahi Lum 1-2.
